Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), one of the banking sector's harshest critics, is being tapped to serve on the Senate Banking Committee.

The Harvard law professor who built her public image primarily as a fierce critic of Wall Street will now play a lead role in monitoring it, after a source confirmed to The Hill that Warren has won a spot on the panel.

Warren originally came to Washington as head of the government's official bailout watchdog, and later as President Obama's architect of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which was created by the Dodd-Frank financial reform law.

However, Warren butted head with congressional Republicans in that position, and Obama ultimately selected one of her top deputies, Richard Cordray, to serve as its first director.